1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an automatic distribution unit to supply and dispense consumables such as liquid and anhydrous food in pellet form for consumption by an animal such as one or more family pets that can be fed without requiring the owner's presence.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various systems exist which are directed to an apparatus that provide both food and water to animals such as pets without requiring any human supervision.
There exists a system featuring a volume distributor controlled by a timer in such a way that animals are fed at pre set times. This time-activated feed distributor has the drawback of only being able to approximate a dosage due to a lack of a direct proportionality between a number of revolutions of a volume proportioning distributor and its working time.
A double bulkhead volume proportioning distributor for horses is also in use today. This apparatus is solenoid controlled, and a feed quantity is contained between the two or double bulkheads which corresponds to a feed ration supplied every time it is operated. This apparatus, however, cannot be controlled any longer once the solenoids are activated. Moreover, in order to fill the reservoir between the two bulkheads, it is necessary to use an industrial vibrator integral with a feeding silo. Otherwise, any anhydrous food in pellet form would obstruct the hopper.
A gravity based feed reservoir system is also currently in use and ensures that necessary food and water is provided to the pets. The food and water falls into respective troughs. This apparatus, however, cannot control the amount of food that is dispensed.
In addition to the specific problems outlined, all of the above stated apparatus cannot verify whether any malfunction occurs during their working operations. In case of malfunction, these apparatuses cannot over come these failures in any way. For this reason, they operate as passive units and require presence of a control individual and therefore cannot replace the user's presence for long periods of time.